Wildcats run to their 11th win defeating the Iron Dukes

The El Dorado Wildcats continued their home floor dominance Tuesday night en route to their 11th victory of the season in a 49-36 victory over the visiting Wellington Crusaders.

Josh Prim

The El Dorado Wildcats continued their home floor dominance Tuesday night en route to their 11th victory of the season in a 49-36 victory over the visiting Wellington Crusaders.

"We started the game pretty well tonight and went through our normal lapses that we have to continue to work on in our consistency and concentration," said El Dorado head coach Gary Melcher.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 16-9 first quarter lead over the Iron Dukes behind 14 points from point guard Travis House.

"We were disappointed with our game at Andale and how we came out and our focus from the start of this game was to come out strong and I believe that was a big part of our success in the outcome of the game," said guard Travis House.

House finished with a game high 18 points with two three pointers meanwhile going 2-4 from the line.

Both teams went point for point in the second scoring 10 a piece and El Dorado led 26-19 at halftime.

"You can find shots in a game and sometimes the shots you find end up going in, but were they good shots for that particular possession. At times we have been careless and lose our concentration and ideally we have to threaten opposing defenses at the basket. Sometimes we are not a threat at the basket and settle for some shots," said Melcher.

The closest Wellington would come was with 5 minutes left in the third and El Dorado led 28-22, but the Wildcats would go on to outscored the Crusaders 11-7 in the frame to take a 37-26 lead into the fourth.

The fourth quarter was owned on both boards by El Dorado big man Jared Haury who closed out the game with 17 points for the Wildcats.

"Coach Melcher said to work hard and get the rebounds and the offense will come and that is what happened," said forward Jared Haury.

El Dorado was without senior Collin Just who suffered a sprained ankle in practice and Haury was able to pick up the slack in his absence.

The Wildcats won the fourth quarter, outscoring Wellington 12-10 in the fourth for their 11th victory of the season.

Aaron Riffel finished with 6 points, Sam Haines and Trevor Crain each had 4 points in the victory.

"We need to work on our offensive flow and be more fluid and we just need to remember that our last game at McPherson was a different game and we didn't have Coach Melcher. I think this game will be a lot better," said Haury.

El Dorado now squares off with McPherson Friday at homecoming.

"We need to work on our consistency. There were times where we played real well and times where we played badly. We need to limit our mistakes, every possession will be crucial against McPherson. We need to play our game and hope for the best," said House.